CUSTOM PLUG

Better knowledge of the Linux hotplug system opens the door to to innovation and automation. We’ll show you a custom backup solution for laptop computers.

Hotplugging is often considered an unfathomable feature that isn’t especially responsive to the idiosyncrasies of the user. However, it may be easier than you think to build your own custom solution around the components of the Linux hotplug system. This article looks at how you can use Ivman, a generic handler for Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) events, to create a custom hotplug solution. The solution described in this article addresses a common problem for users with portable computers. Although all computers need regular backups, a cron-based cyclical backup scheme is not especially effective for a laptop. The battery might be flat when the backup is due to start, or you might be hundreds of miles away from your server, tape drive, or backup disk.

At his cozy home, sys admin Charly has always used rsnapshot to back up his data. Although things will be staying this way for server backups, he has found something more manageable for backing up the Kühnast family's desktop PCs.